Short on time? Add some intensity

When it comes to cardio there are various intensities(low, moderate, high). First you have you steady state which would be like jogging or a light to moderate bike ride, the other is high intensity intervals which can be done with sprints, rowing, etc. While low would be common day to day activities such as walking, very light cycling.

One study looked at the difference between the two types of activity and their effect on cardiometabolic health (heart, lungs, energy systems). The participants in the study took part in a 12 week program. The high intensity group did 20 second all out cycling sprints with 2 min light cycling in between (total: 7mins) while the steady state group did 45 mins of continuous cycling at roughly 70% of max heart rate. At the end of the 12 weeks both groups showed similar improvements in many of the markers that were tested. In fact there was no significant difference between the two groups.

This study shows that high intensity interval training can have positive effects on many areas of health. Depending on your physical goals, you may want to consider some higher intensity exercise into your training. One can also alternate between intensities of exercise to get a variety of stimulus to the body. This is not to say that moderate intensity exercise should not be done, this is just a way to give options. Ideally a combination of low, moderate and high intensity exercise will allow one to train various energy systems of the body in relation to the variety in intensities.

Gillen, J. Martin, B. MacInnis, M. et al. “Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabloic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment” PLoS ONE. 2016.